Time Magazine Unveils This Year's '100 Most Influential People'

By Jude Abastar, Christian Post Contributor Friday, April 22, 2016

This year's list of the 100 Most Influential People from Time Magazine is made up of the usual personalities and some surprises, too. The magazine released its 13th annual list on Thursday with six different covers showcasing seven of the honorees, including Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio, Indian actress Priyanka Chopra, recording artist Nicki Minaj, Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg and wife Priscilla Chan, International Monetary Fund's Christine LaGarde, and "Hamilton" creator Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Just like the previous lists from Time, this year is graced by all sorts of personalities in different industries, but the common denominator is the fact that they come with the greatest influence to society, be it positive or negative. A mainstay in the list are political and religious leaders, music and film artists, and leaders of the business sector.

However, it is quite interesting to see that many of those who made it to the list this year come from the entertainment industry, including a few surprises like Aziz Ansari, Felix Kjellberg (aka PewDiePie), and Gina Rodriguez, the star of Jane the Virgin. And of course, this list wouldn't be complete without Caitlyn Jenner (formerly Bruce Jenner), the most prominent face of a transgender hoping to get the respect in America.

An interesting twist in this year's edition is the section where each honoree is made a subject of a write up by a prominent figure in their own field. One example is Leonardo DiCaprio, who is a subject of Secretary of State John Kerry's essay. Hunger Games star Jennifer Lawrence on the other hand wrote one for another honoree, award-winning singer Adele.

The other notable personalities in the list include President Barack Obama, Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, Taraji Henson, Melissa McCarthy, Kendrick Lamar, Oscar Isaac, Mark Rylance, Gael Garcia Bernal, Idris Alba, Charlize Theron, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and others.